


Tooth and Claw

by lesbianmountaingal (AllTreesAreSapphic)



Category: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Gen, Gen or Pre-Slash, Miscommunication, Werewolves, case fic (ish?)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-20
Updated: 2018-05-20
Packaged: 2019-05-09 09:59:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14713934
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AllTreesAreSapphic/pseuds/lesbianmountaingal
Summary: "He knew that the Rowdy 3 were vampires. He knew that his sister was a witch, and Mona was a shapeshifter, and Dirk was… whatever he was, but it would take a lot more than a festering dog bite and an incident every full moon for the next three months to convince Todd that he was a werewolf."Todd's first instinct when confronted with a problem is to lie, this helps absolutely no one and only creates more problems and yet he doesn't learn.





	1. Chapter 1

Todd couldn’t tell you the exact day that it had all started, if you’d asked. He could tell you the closest full moon, though. 

It had been a chilly night for the time of year – clear too, not a cloud in the sky. He’d been walking back to the agency through the dimly lit streets after researching for a case, sometime past midnight, the city asleep. He’d turned onto the street they worked on and noticed the moon: bright, full, seeming like a great blind eye staring down at him. The sky was vast and threatening, and the stink of the bins made his eyes water, and suddenly he’d felt sick – not in his stomach but in his bones and skin, and behind his eyes, and at the base of his teeth, and every noise and light and breath of wind had felt like an overwhelming attack on his senses, to the point where he was sure the world around him had changed and mutated into something strange that he couldn’t understand... 

Which is when he’d blacked out; waking up hours later, long after sunrise to find himself very naked in a cornfield eight miles from the office covered in animal blood (it was a testament to Todd’s fleeting career as a punk rocker that that wasn’t even the wildest way he’d found himself the morning after a night he couldn’t remember). 

He knew that the Rowdy 3 were vampires. He knew that his sister was a witch, and Mona was a shapeshifter, and Dirk was… whatever he was, but it would take a lot more than a festering dog bite and an incident every full moon for the next three months to convince Todd that he was a werewolf. Which is why, three months later, he was sat at his desk at the agency with five different tabs open all related to ailments transmittable through canine saliva (none of which matched his list of symptoms that included ‘fear of pentagrams’ and ‘hunger for rabbit flesh’). 

‘Hey!’ Farah slid a takeaway coffee cup across the desk towards him, gently blowing steam from her own. ‘Are you staying late working again?’

‘Oh, thanks and, uh – yeah, I am. This poodle robbery isn’t gonna solve itself,’ he gave a smile that was half-grimace, which she returned. They’d hit a patch of money troubles for the first time since they started the agency, almost a year ago, and he’d been taking the cases Dirk had turned down behind his back. Sure, Dirk’s cases were usually of great importance and were magically bestowed upon him through blinding-headache-inducing visions, but they didn’t always pay well, unlike finding a fashion designer’s kidnapped toy poodle or digging up dirt on a politician’s rival. Farah was in on it, but neither of them wanted Dirk to worry so they’d agreed to a pact of secrecy until they were in the clear financially.

‘All signs currently point to an inside job.’

‘Are you insinuating that it was the butler all along?’ she said, imitating the posh tones of the woman who’d hired them. 

‘Either that,’ he leaned in conspiratorially. ‘Or the poodle freed itself.’ 

Farah laughed at that despite herself. Then her expression turned serious. 

‘You know you’re going to have to tell him eventually, right? You already know how much I disapprove, I’m not trying to start that discussion again, but either way – he’s gonna find out. Hiding problems away… never ends well.’ 

Todd knew she was talking from experience about her anxiety, but as he glanced back at his computer screen to see the symptoms disappear and the page load and the word “lycanthropy” come up again and again, he couldn’t help but feel her advice was relevant in more ways than one.


	2. Chapter 2

‘You’re sure this is the place?’ Todd squinted in the dim light of the everbulb to try and see what was carved over the entrance to the tunnel, just the latest in a long line of creepy places Dirk’s current case had taken them. ‘I mean.. that could be an eel insignia or it could be… snakes. Worms. Anything really.’

‘It’s an eel, Todd. Just like I saw in the vision. Are you sure you’re not just saying that cause you don’t want to go down the dark and ominous underground passage?

‘Maybe,’ Todd admitted. ‘A little. It could be dangerous!’

‘When is it not?’ Dirk couldn’t hide that he was happy the case was going so well. A tangible lead at this stage in the game was rare, so he was rightfully optimistic and it showed. ‘Look, if it comes down to it – as the shorter of us both you have permission to hide behind me.’

‘Since when have I been the one that hid behind you? Or are you forgetting when I saved you from that spider in the bathroom the other week?’ 

‘In my defence it was mostly shock. I’d been talking to it thinking it was Mona for at least ten minutes before I realised she was the lamp in the other room. Very disconcerting.’ He shuddered at the memory. ‘So, are you coming or should I leave you here as Tunnel Guard?’

‘Oh no I’m coming, you’ve got the light with you and I didn’t even bring a torch.’

‘Excellent!’ 

Todd rolled his eyes at Dirk’s boundless enthusiasm, but followed him none the less, sticking so close behind him it would have made anyone watching question the meaning of personal space. 

 

 

 

They wandered down the tunnel for a long time without seeing anything of relevance to the case – which so far revolved around a group of Slavic eel fishermen from the 1800s forming a cult, moving to Seattle, possibly burying something of universal importance in the very tunnel they were currently investigating. 

After the initial success of finding the place wore off, Todd could see Dirk was getting restless as they kept on with no new results. Every so often he looked as if he was about to speak, but decided against it, and he looked increasingly worried as time wore on.

After another few minutes and who knows how much further underground, the need to end the awkward silence was too strong. 

‘Hey, Dirk? Forget what I said about this not being the right place, we’re gonna find something if we just –’

‘It’s not that, Todd.’

He sounded defeated. Suddenly Todd felt less worried, more scared. ‘Then, what? I can tell something’s bothering you..’

‘I know you’ve been hiding things from me Todd. Surprisingly enough, I’m not that awful a detective I can’t tell when my best friend is acting shiftier than usual.’

‘Oh. You’re… not an awful detective – wait, I act shifty?’ Dirk gave him a dry look. 

‘Sorry. I mean, sorry for lying about… that thing I was lying about.’ At this point Todd didn’t actually know how much Dirk knew, so he wasn’t about to tip him off. Lying, after all, being a skill he had practiced well back when he used to pretend he had pararibulitis. 

‘You mean you’re still not going to tell me what it is? Is it really that bad?’ 

Dirk’s expression was so hurt Todd was seriously considering telling him everything. ‘No it’s nothing bad, I – I just couldn’t tell you but –’

‘It’s not something I did, is it? Because you haven’t been coming on cases with me as often and sometimes you just don’t come into the office at all, I know people are normally supposed to hate their jobs but I thought, since this isn’t a “normal” job and – and since we’re friends…’

‘No! Dirk it’s not that at all I swear –’ 

‘Then why won’t you tell me?’

‘I…’ he didn’t have a good reason. Not for the first lie, the one about taking cases behind his back. ‘I will. I’ll tell you.’

Dirk actually looked surprised at that, which only made Todd feel worse.

‘We’re broke. The agency we, we have pretty much no money. So while you were working cases that the universe, I don’t know “bestowed” on you, or whatever, I’ve been taking the ones that pay well. Trying to keep us afloat. I didn’t want you to know because… I know you’d blame yourself, you’d blame your whole vision thing. And I didn’t want you to have to go through that. I guess.’ 

He tailed off towards the end – Dirk was shaking his head like he didn’t believe a word he was saying. ‘What? That was the truth, I swear!’

‘No, no it can’t be, because it doesn’t explain…’

He must know already. About the second lie, the one even Farah didn’t know about. The werewolf thing. Todd braced himself for the worst. ‘Doesn’t explain what?’ 

‘I’ve been hiding something from you too. I had another vision, Todd, unrelated to the case. I saw you –’ he was cut off by a deafening groan as the tunnel began to shake. Stones and clumps of dirt came loose from the walls and ceiling and a roar echoed up the passage. 

‘RUN!’

Dirk didn’t have to tell him twice. A split second after they both took off up the tunnel the space where they’re just been standing filled with dirt – the whole place was collapsing. Todd was almost grateful since now he definitely wasn’t going to have to come clean, until he tripped and was very nearly crushed by falling earth and he decided no, he would rather be confessing right now. In the wildly swinging light of the everbulb he could just make out the entrance to the tunnel almost a hundred metres ahead of them, not yet covered by the collapse and growing closer – all they had to do was make it out. 

As they closed in on their escape the falling dirt was no longer just behind them or around them but in front of them, walls around the entrance started to fall in and for a moment Todd thought they might not make it –

The next thing he knew they were through. He collapsed on the basement floor next to Dirk, breathing ragged and legs aching as the ground settled slowly. They lay there catching their breath in silence until Dirk’s phone rang. He made a brief attempt to find it in his various jacket pockets before giving up and letting it go to voicemail. 

‘Hi, Dirk? It’s Farah: I was doing some more research and it turns out there’s actually two tunnels, and, well the one you’re investigating? From these schematics it doesn’t look like it really goes anywhere so I’d just be careful of booby traps. You know you wouldn’t believe how easy it is to rig one of these to collapse. Call me back if you find anything!’


	3. Chapter 3

They’d gone their separate ways after escaping the tunnel, agreeing to continue the investigation the next day. However, when Todd came into the office in the morning, Dirk was nowhere to be seen. He also tripped on a draught excluder he was sure hadn’t been there before, so presumably he’d been venting to Mona about the argument they’d had and, like always, she’d taken his side. 

He tried to tell himself he’d had a good reason, that the whole point of lying in the first place had been so Dirk wouldn’t worry, but since he’d obviously ended up more worried than he would’ve been if Todd had just told the truth in the first place it seemed like he was going to have to take Dirk’s side too. 

And then there was the vision. He still didn’t know what it was Dirk had seen but he knew it had to be something awful to shake him up that much, and if it was about Todd then the chances were it was something werewolf-related. He’d have to tell him eventually. Hell, he’d actually have to come to terms with it himself eventually, but that was a problem for a different time. 

‘Morning, Farah.’ She was sitting at her desk rolling up a bunch of old blueprints. When she said nothing in return, he stopped on his way to his desk and turned around – she was glaring at him with about as much disapproval as a human being can manage.

‘You heard about last night then, huh?’

‘I heard everything. I heard that Dirk knew you were lying about something, so you told him about the cases – which you still need to solve, by the way – but he said he didn’t believe you (he still doesn’t) because he thinks you’re lying about something else, and then the tunnel collapsed on you both.’ She sighed exasperatedly, tying an elastic band around the last blueprint. ‘Honestly Todd? This is something you’re going to have to work out between yourselves.’

‘I know that. But are you sure you can’t, I don’t know, mediate?’

She gathered up the rolls of blueprints and headed for the door before shooting him a withering look. ‘No.’

Todd waited the rest of the day for Dirk to turn up with no luck. He tried asking Mona where he was, but she must have been sulking with him too because there was no reply. 

He reorganised some files, changed the lightbulb that had been out for about a month, and finally gave up and left. If Dirk didn’t want to sort things out between them then that would have to be his problem. 

Just as he was locking up the agency he saw, sitting on the pavement in front of him, a tiny toy poodle – after checking the tag on its collar he was certain it was the one he had been hired to find. At least that was something good, he thought, as he set off for the client’s house.

 

 

 

 

Dirk was, sadly, unable to fly. When he’d told Mona about everything that was going on the only advice she’d been able to offer (aside from “just talk to him” – as if), had been to do what she did when problems got on top of her. Which was turn into a kite and fly away for a while. 

Not that it didn’t sound nice, tempting even, to fly away under a beautiful full moon as the sun went down, but it wouldn’t solve anything – the case, Todd, they were here in the city, so that was where he needed to be too. 

Specifically he needed to be about two blocks away, at Todd’s apartment, so he could tell him about the vision – warn him about the danger he was in. He was hurt that Todd had lied to him, yes, and also yes, he had spent the day brooding over it, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to at least try and stop the chain of events that would lead to what he’d seen taking place. 

When he got to Todd’s building the light was fading fast from a blood red sunset. It must be late. Not quite nightfall. As he stood at the door he felt a strong urge to turn around and go far away for a while, like Mona had suggested, which he ignored blatantly and let himself in with the spare key Todd had given him “for emergencies only”. 

Half way up the stairs someone barrelled into him and very nearly set him flying . ‘Hey!’

‘Sorry! Wait, Dirk?’ 

‘Todd?’ They both stopped in the middle of the staircase. ‘What are you doing here?’

‘I live here, Dirk,’ he sounded distracted, and kept glancing at the front door like he was itching to get away. ‘What are you doing here? Actually it doesn’t matter cause I have to go, like, now, like right now –’

‘No no no, wait – I have to tell you something.’ Dirk grabbed his arm to keep him from darting down the stairs. ‘The vision I had, you’re in danger Todd –’

‘I know. Well, I’m not in danger I’ve done this before – but you, you’re in danger. I got distracted, had to take the poodle back and now I’ve left it too late to get away.’

‘Away? Where are you going?’

‘I… I don’t actually know. I was thinking maybe an abandoned farmhouse, or, or like a cabin in the woods?’

‘Why the hell would you need to visit some of the arguably most haunted stock locations from low budget-horror films at this time of evening?’

‘Because it happens tonight! And I need to get away from everybody, anyone I might hurt.’ 

The sun had fully set outside and the lights inside the stairwell started to flicker and buzz. Todd’s eyes were wild and afraid. Suddenly Dirk thought he may have slightly missed his chance to prevent something bad from happening, and had maybe instead arrived right in the middle of it. 

‘What happens tonight? Todd…?’

‘You were right. There was more I wasn’t telling you. I… I think I might be a werewolf.’

‘… Oh.’  
‘Does that explain your vision?’ And do you see why I kind of need to go?’

‘Yes.’ Dirk nodded, slightly in shock.

‘I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner…’ he looked like he was about to say something else, but he just smiled apologetically and took off down the stairs, leaving Dirk standing there with absolutely no idea what to do next. 

 

 

 

 

Sunrise came at 6 AM, but Dirk was up before that. He packed a duffel bag with some of Todd’s clothes that he’d “borrowed” and forgot to return, a bottle of water, and a leg of ham and set off just before dawn. For a while he’d debated bringing Farah’s taser along too, but maybe despite his better judgement left it behind. 

Out on the road light spilled fast into a blood red sunrise. It took a fair bit of convincing to get Mona to turn into a motorbike since she’d been fast asleep as a cat when he’d needed to leave (cats being the supreme form for sleeping), but eventually she’d agreed and now they were racing down the empty roads out of the city.

He didn’t know where Todd had gone, and he thought the likelihood was Todd probably didn’t either, but he trusted the universe to take him where he needed to be. And right now he needed to be with Todd. 

Any resentment he’d felt about the lying had pretty much vanished overnight when he realised that, in his own somewhat disastrous way, Todd had been trying to help – putting in extra hours just so Dirk didn’t have to worry about finances, going to even more lengths to make sure Dirk didn’t find out. It was a very assisstantly thing to do. Then on top of that there was the fact that at some point in the past year he’d turned into a werewolf and had been managing that utter ordeal without ever asking for help once, which was infuriatingly noble and completely unacceptable, and also the reason Dirk was out looking for him now. To help. 

When they finally came to a stop the sun was low in the sky and the last red light of dawn was fading. They were on a dirt by-road cutting through a stand of trees in between two fields – in the dust next to the motorbike tracks were pawprints, bigger than a human hand. If Dirk had been the kind of detective that bothered with that sort of thing, they would definitely count as clues. He followed them into the undergrowth where the trail broke for a couple of feet, then continued – as human footprints. 

‘Todd? Are you here?’

Silence, for a few seconds, then rustling leaves. ‘Dirk? Is that you?’

‘Yes! I’m so glad I found you, are you okay?’

‘I’m fine,’ his voice came from a rhododendron bush a few meters away. ‘Ish.’

‘Okay: I brought you some clothes, some water, some slightly raw meat which, I think might have been a bit presumptuous looking back on it…’

‘Clothes? Could you throw them over?’ 

Dirk obliged, and, several minutes, one loud crash and a good dozen swear words later Todd emerged looking bedraggled and muddy but fully clothed. ‘Thanks. I owe you one.’

‘You absolutely don’t, not for this at least. For not telling me about it sooner, yes, you totally owe me one.’ 

‘I know. I guess I just… didn’t wanna make a fuss. I barely even believed myself, I hardly expected you or Farah to believe me.’

‘How long has it been?’

‘Not sure when it started. But, it’s been four months I think, since the first time I did the whole full moon transformation.’

‘You’ve been doing this every full moon for four months and you didn’t tell anyone?’

‘I know, I know, and I’m sorry. You don’t have to forgive me yet,’

‘I did already,’ Dirk answered far too quickly.

‘Oh. Can we maybe go home then? I… didn’t exactly sleep last night.’ 

Todd gave him a grateful look as Dirk led the way back to the road, where Mona was floating around in the morning sun as a tiny butterfly. At Dirk’s request she turned first back into a motorbike, then into a mini. 

Todd fell asleep almost as soon as they started driving, and although Dirk was still slightly annoyed it was outweighed completely by the peace he felt knowing that, in the end, Todd was safe, and they were still friends.


End file.
